Project Ripple Launches at Southern New Hampshire University

For the Media

Manchester, NH (February 4, 2014) – More than 1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water. To address this global issue, Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) announced today, in coordination with DEKA Research and Development Corporation, Sodexo, Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Northern New England and Coca-Cola of North America, the creation of a new pilot project designed to assist with the provision of safe drinking water to communities in need.

Project Ripple aims to raise funds to purchase DEKA Slingshot™ water purification systems for communities where safe drinking water is scarce or non-existent. The campaign, which will take place starting February 1 through May 1 on the SNHU main campus, will allow students, faculty, staff and visitors to directly take part in the processes and planning involved in taking direct humanitarian action.

A total of eight cents from individual 20oz. Coca-Cola sparkling beverages and DASANI water sales over the course of the semester will be contributed with the goal to help pay for the purchase of at least one Slingshot™ water purification system. How it works: Two cents will be generated from each sale, each sale will then be matched with two cents donated by the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Northern New England, two cents by Sodexo and two cents by SNHU. Public donations will also be accepted through SNHU Tickets at SNHUTickets.com

"We're thrilled to be able to do our part to engage the SNHU community in a project that will truly change and enrich the lives of others in our country and beyond," said SNHU Dean of Students Heather Lorenz. "Not only will this pilot project help to provide clean drinking water to people in need, it will also raise our students’ awareness of important environmental issues. This type of education and advocacy provides the energy and spark for great things to happen."

A number of student groups have expressed interest in supporting the project including the Student Government Association, Outreach Club, Inter-Greek Council, Coordinators of Activities and Programming Events and Students for Environmental Action.

The idea for Project Ripple came from Adam Hill, a University of New Hampshire student. Hill approached the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Northern New England last year to direct revenue from Coca-Cola sales to help provide safe drinking water to communities in need.

"My intentions from the beginning were to start a program that would have the potential to be replicated by, and to inspire, other people or institutions, to create a ripple effect so that local efforts are amplified to assist with a global collaboration to prevent waterborne illnesses and to increase access to safe drinking water," said Hill, who is Co-Founder of Project Ripple.

Since 2012, The Coca-Cola Company has partnered with DEKA Research and Development Corporation to deliver Slingshot™ water purification systems to schools, community centers and health clinics in rural communities in countries throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America. Slingshot™ delivers approximately 850 liters of safe drinking water per day using less electricity than a handheld hair dryer (1kWh).

"This project helps us to support The Coca-Cola Company’s goal to 'give back' an amount of water equivalent to what we use in all of our products and their production by 2020," said Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Northern New England Director of Capabilities and Project Ripple Co-Founder Mike Elmer. "We're proud to partner with Southern New Hampshire University, Sodexo and DEKA in this mission and to continue to work to improve access to water for all of the world’s citizens."

Project Ripple is a great example of how students, businesses and higher education can work together with innovative practices and technology to take humanitarian action in the 21st century.